Letter - 8/11/14

Dear Family and Friends,

Well I am not really sure where to start this week so many fun things happened! Time is really flying by though. Sister Hunter and I are emailing and just can't believe P-day is here again! I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve though. I truly have found what is means to be happy. Last night for companionship study all four of us in my apartment decided to study together. We talked about how happy we truly are but the question is "Why are we so happy?" We found that we are living in the world but we are not living of the world. In fact we have no idea what is even going on in the world and that is okay because we have the gospel and we are sharing it. We have the gospel which brings true happiness. Right now as a missionary I have all that brings true happiness and no distractions. I have the scriptures to read, service to give, God's love to share, friends and family's support and a solid relationship with my Savior and Father in Heaven. Life does not get much better then that. As I have learned what true happiness really is I encourage you all to reflect on what brings you true happiness and what you can do to find the true happiness that YOU desire.

This week was full of fun adventures. I think living here with these 3 amazing Sister's is almost too go to be true. We are having so much fun and I sometimes wonder if we are doing something wrong because we seriously are living the best life. We are making so many memories and I am so grateful for their wonderful examples. We had exchanges with Sister Hammerl and Sister Lyman because they are the Sister Training Leader. I just adore serving with those two and living with them. I went with Sister Hammerl and she is so great. She was there willing to help me improve anything I wanted so we focused on lessons on the street and making that transition from a friendly conversation to fulfilling our purpose as missionaries. We also talked a lot about joy and she asked me What I have done to strive to maintain a happy attitude. I told her it all started before my mission. Before I left I committed myself to be happy and positive. Of course there have been times that I could have been better in that area but I am improving and that is what has made all the difference. Choosing before hand to be happy and positive is what has made this mission experiene all I could ever ask for. I am so grateful that I decided to make that sacred commitment to myself before hand and for the blessing that have followed because of it.

 Our stake this week held a big campout that the members were able to attend and the missionaries were not so that was sad but we decided to have our own campout on Wedensday night where we roasted marshmellows, ate Tim Tam Slams, and Sister Hammerl sernaded us on her guitar. It was Sister Hammerl's first s'more and Sister Lyman's first Tim Tam Slam so we made history in 금천 Wednesday night. The following day was Temple day. Oh how I love the Seoul Korea Temple. I thank Heavenly Father everyday for the opportunity I have to attend the temple once a transfer and this transfer it was special. As many of you may know since I was 16 my dad and I have gone to a temple on my birthday as a Daddy-Daughter Date. Well considering he was not able to come to Korea this month I brought him with me to the temple. I entered the temple with a picture of my dad and I to make the tradition go on. I was so grateful to have that picture with me and for the love that I could feel in the temple from my Heavenly Father. The temple is such a special place and it is truly the house of the Lord. I am so grateful for the sacrifces that have been made in order to allow us to attend temples today and through them recieve the promised blessings from Heavenly Father.

Sister Hunter and I this week had one lesson with our investigator 김미량. It was such a good experience too! We do 30/30 with her so for the first half hour just did free talking in English. When we followed up with our last commitment with her which was prayer she said she didn't do it but then she paused for a few second and said "Wait no I did for my Grandma." Last week she went to her Grandmother's becaushe she is currently suffering from cancer. She said "I did it in my heart." I thought that was so cool and knowing our investigator she doesn't have any religious background so I wondered well what made her all of the sudden decide to pray so I asked her the simple question of "Why did you decide to pray?" She tried first to explain why in English for some reason but she couldn't quite get her point across so she spoke to us in Korean. I first off did not understand a thing and was just praying that Sister Hunter understood. Sister Hunter then said "Are you saying that you decided to pray because it's all you could do?" 김미량 said "Yes because I can't cure cancer so all I could do was pray." How cool is that?! She is beginning to act and exercise her faith in God who she has never really known before. But the neates part was after our lesson Sister Hunter and I were talking and come to find out Sister Hunter said that she didn't understand a thing that 김미량 said but God put those word in my mouth. It was truly a miracle and I was able to witness God's promise of "take no thought beforehand what ye shall say" because He will put words into our mouths that are necessary for us to discern the person's needs. It is so great to be speaking another language because I truly experience the wonderful gift of tongues everyday. No I am not fluent in Korean but I can get by with the Lord's help and He will emphasize the things that I do need to understand or say. I am so grateful to know that with God my true strength come.

Along with our one official lesson we had some practice lessons with members. This week Sister Hunter and I recieved so much help with a single adult member of our ward 황미주. She used to teach at the Korea MTC which I didn't even know they had one but we asked her to do a practice lesson which is now turning into 2 practice lessons every week! I am so excited! Listening to her talk about her mission really helped me and gave me that much more desire to be the best I can. But the best part was while she was sharing all her stories they were in pure Korean because she can't speak English and I understood every story! It was amazing and I just thought was she just speaking really simple Korean or is this real life but it was real life! We are really lucky and this member has been wanting to be a good member missionary but hasn't known how but now she is so happy with the help she is giving us. She just glows everytime we meet with her and she is able to help us improve. It has been a wonderful experience and I can tell that she was the most amazing missionary. I love her so much and am so glad that Sister Hunter and I are able to work with her. She is seriously the coolest and I want to be like her.

Now to close my email. So yesterday it rained SO hard. But the best part was Sister Hunter and I did not have umbrellas because when we left the house it looked like a possibility but the ward members just had continue to tell us that rainy season just never came this year so don't expect rain anymore so we did not have our umbreallas with us. Well we walked pretty far to do some knocking on doors at apartments and well after the first buiilding it starts to downpour. We couldn't believe it but luckily all the building we wanted to knock the doors of were close but the real problem was getting home because we were at least a 30 minute walk away from our house. When it was time to go home the rain just came down harder and harder by the minute and we couldn't do anything besides walk through it. We were soaked! I mean it looked like we decided to take a shower with our clothes on. It is quite the memory. The best part was we were just hitting a stop light that if we hurried we would have been able to cross the road but the light change to quickly so we stood there these two white American foriegner missionaries in the rain watching the cars drive by splashing us on both sides. Yes so the lesson learned always have your umbrella even if rainy season isn't coming because it will.

I just want you all to know how great this experience is. I am so grateful for the many things that I am learning and for the growth that is taking place in my life. I love serving as a missionary under the Lord's direction. I could not impagine being anywhere else at the moment. I thank each of you for the love,support and prayers you have all sent my way. I love and miss each of you. I know that this gospel is true. I know that is bring true and everlasting happiness. I know that God is aware of all of His children and we are HIs children. He knows us. If we just turn to Him He can and will help us because He is our Father. I love being a missionary. I love this work. I love my Savior. Because of Him I can improve myself each day and strive to reach my full potential by following is perfect example. I hope you all have a wonderful week! Keep smiling! Make memories! Live life to the fullest by recognizing the blessings of each day!

Love
드리스콜자매
Sister Ciarra Jean Driscoll